StarDestroyer.Net BBS

My comp just crashed after watching Medieval Lives for about 20-30 minutes. I now heavily suspect that something is wrong. I noticed minor curroptions in the video, which I put down to slightly corrupt files.

I forgot to mention that I ran tests with ati tray tools and 3dmark ventage. Not a high score, but I don't think it found anything wrong and I did not notice any problems then.

My PSU:
Deer
DR-8500BTX

AC input: / Voltage 115/230V / Current 10A/6A / Freqvency 60/50Hz
Max Dc output: +3,3V \ +5v / +12v1 \ +12v2 \ -12v / +5vsb \ black \ grn \ gry
22a \ 16a / 15a \ 16a \ 0,8a / 2,5a \ com \ ps-on\pg
Combined power: 130W / 180W \ 192w \ 9,8 w / 12,5 W \ return \ remote \ pck
480 w

Sorry for the iffy formating but that's what was on the side of my PSU. I really hope that this isn't the card and that the card isn't damaged.

EDIT: Goolge put seems to show what I suspected: the PSU is shit. Am I right?

I'm getting a new PSU on Wendsday. What experiences do people here have with Chieftec? From what I was able to gather, they are pretty fine (and many people like their chases for some reason). The model number I got from the seller guy was DD450a2b, which I can't find on their site, so I put that down to clerical error.

That old PSU does look like a quite shitty. Too much ampage capacity is on the 3V line, and it is the 5volt and 12 volt lines which are used by modern componets compared to the 3V line.

Chieftec looks to be a re-branded Antec, just make sure it is has an 80% efficiency rating, which means it should be a modern PSU and of reasonable build at a minium.

I'm looking for a new system to replace my Asus Z70va laptop. I was originally going to get another laptop, but am now thinking of getting a desktop and using my current laptop for notes during lectures (after removing all nonessential programs to speed it up).
Anyhow, I was looking at this system on newegg, and was wondering what people thought of it:

CyberpowerPC Gamer Infinity 3313
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200(2.33GHz)
Memory: 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800
Hard Drive: 500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 7200RPM HDD
Optical Drive 1: 22X DVD±R/±RW Dual Layer Drive
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 9500GT 1GB PCI-Express Graphics Card
Audio: Sound card - Integrated
Ethernet: 10/100 Mbps LAN
Power Supply: 420W
Keyboard: Xtreme Gear USB Keyboard
Mouse: Xtreme Gear USB Mouse
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
Free upgrade to Microsoft Windows 7
Special Features: Sigma Orca Gaming Case
CyberpowerPC Gamer Infinity 3313

I'm on a student budget, but I'm looking for something that can handle games decently, and that I can upgrade in the future.
Thanks!

That computer's a huge rip off, and the graphics card isn't suitable for gaming at all.

I'd strongly recommend you build the thing yourself, and get something like this:



If you're in any tech-related classes, you might even be able to snag a free copy of Windows off of MSDNAA.

[quote]Chieftec looks to be a re-branded Antec, just make sure it is has an 80% efficiency rating, which means it should be a modern PSU and of reasonable build at a minium.[\quote]

How can I be sure of that?

The advertising literature will tell you, and there should be big fat "80 Plus" stickers on the side of the PSU and/or the box. Failing the 80 Plus sticker on the PSU itself, if you no longer have/never had the box, the nameplate on the PSU should have that info.

My dad needs a cheap computer for browsing/email etc.

I was thinking he should buy something like this:

AsRock S330 NetTop

Processor:Intel Atom 330 DualCore (2x 1.60GHz), 533MHz FSB, 2x 512 kb L2 Cache
RAM: 1x1GB DDR2, 800MHz (max 1x 4GB)
Chipset: Intel 945GC Express
Harddisk: 160GB 2.5" S-ATA
Graphics: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950, VGA
Optical drive: DVD+-RW 8x
Audio: 5.1 Audio
LAN: Gigabit LAN
I/O: 6x USB2.0, Audio, Optical SPDIF, 1x LAN, 1x VGA, 1x HDMI, 1x Line in, 1x Line out
OS: none
Dimesions: 195x186x70mm
Weight: 1.69kg

OS would be Ubuntu or possibly Windows XP (depending on how cheap I can get it through school). I might also add a second 1GB RAM stick.

Thoughts?

Thanks

starslayer wrote:The advertising literature will tell you, and there should be big fat "80 Plus" stickers on the side of the PSU and/or the box. Failing the 80 Plus sticker on the PSU itself, if you no longer have/never had the box, the nameplate on the PSU should have that info.

Basicly this. It is one of those really obvious things, that once you've seen you'll know it.

[R_H] wrote:AsRock S330 NetTop

I'ld look to see what Dell has to offer. Dell is really damn good for providing the cheapest whole-kit computer systems. Just dedicate some time to browsing Dell's website and some google for Dell discount codes

Xon wrote:

[R_H] wrote:AsRock S330 NetTop

I'ld look to see what Dell has to offer. Dell is really damn good for providing the cheapest whole-kit computer systems. Just dedicate some time to browsing Dell's website and some google for Dell discount codes

I looked at the Optiplex 160, way too expensive. An Inspiron 546, maybe, though it's almost twice as expensive as the AsRock.

Those stats would seem to imply that there's only one memory slot, meaning you'd have to pull the 1 gig stick and replace it with a 2 gig stick.

Uraniun235 wrote:Those stats would seem to imply that there's only one memory slot, meaning you'd have to pull the 1 gig stick and replace it with a 2 gig stick.

The AsRock website says it's dual channel though.

S330 wrote:1GB DDR2 memory support up to 4GB (2xDIMM Slots, Dual channel)

Just ordered the parts for a new computer -

Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz Socket 1366 D0 stepping 8MB Cache OEM Processor
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R iX58 Socket 1366 7.1 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
Corsair 12GB (6x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz XMS3 Triple Channel i7 Memory Kit CL9 1.6V
Seagate 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache - Retail Box Including Cables & Screws
Coolermaster Elite 330 Black Mid Tower Case - No PSU
Coolermaster 900W UCP (Ultimate Circuit Protection) PSU - 80% Silver Certified Efficiency
Hp Nvidia Quadro Fx570 256mb Pcie Graphics
Gelid Silent Spirit Socket 1366 775 754 939 940 AM2 AM2+ AM3 Heatpipe Processor Cooler
Optiarc 24x Int DVDRWRAM SATA Black L/S

Total cost including VAT & shipping - £872
(Got a spare license of WinXPPro x64 that I can muddle by with until Windows 7 is released in October.)

Should be delivered Tuesday then I can get busy building

It turns out that the Chieftec can't cut it either: I occasionally hear a click from the OCP and my father confirms so.
Wonderful. Just bloody fucking wonderful.

Oh for fucks sake that's supposed to be a GA-EX28-UD5 motherboard, they swapped it for a UD3R because they were out of stock
So now I've got to go through the hassle of RMAing the fucking thing and then waiting for a mobo with six memory slots to be delivered.

Does anyone have a SFF PC? I'm thinking of getting one as my next desktop, but I'm not sure if that would be a good idea.

[R_H] wrote:Does anyone have a SFF PC? I'm thinking of getting one as my next desktop, but I'm not sure if that would be a good idea.

They're nice little boxes that don't take up much space.

phongn wrote:

[R_H] wrote:Does anyone have a SFF PC? I'm thinking of getting one as my next desktop, but I'm not sure if that would be a good idea.

They're nice little boxes that don't take up much space.

That's what I was going for, the Shuttles still have 250W PSUs, right? Is that enough for midrange cards?

[R_H] wrote:That's what I was going for, the Shuttles still have 250W PSUs, right? Is that enough for midrange cards?

I think they're sporting more powerful PSUs now but noise and cooling might be an issue.

Server's up and running, with six 1.5TB drives in RAID-6. Saw a couple of "device inserted" events in the RAID card's event log, which worries me a little, but I've since upgraded the firmware on the RAID card; it measurably improved performance (bumped average read speed from ~320MB/s to ~345MB/s) and I haven't seen any such events since then, but I'll give it another week before I order the other five drives and build out a ten drive (plus hotspare) array. A 5.5TB volume is okay, but I'd really like it to be 10.9.

I like the Twelve Hundred at first glance, but I think it might be not quite deep enough; cable management with seven hard drives is challenging enough with this case.

phongn wrote:

[R_H] wrote:That's what I was going for, the Shuttles still have 250W PSUs, right? Is that enough for midrange cards?

I think they're sporting more powerful PSUs now but noise and cooling might be an issue.

I was thinking a Q9400 or a Q9550, 1TB HDD, an optical drive, 4GB of RAM, a WLAN card and something along the lines of a 250GTS.

I now have installed a Corsair VX550. After some fumbling, everything is plugged in.

Yet I still hear an occasional click. I don't think its the OCP but its definitely a click of some kind of swich. Should I be worried?

Zixinus wrote:I now have installed a Corsair VX550. After some fumbling, everything is plugged in.

Yet I still hear an occasional click. I don't think its the OCP but its definitely a click of some kind of swich. Should I be worried?

Maybe it's a/the fan brushing against something?

[R_H] wrote:

Zixinus wrote:I now have installed a Corsair VX550. After some fumbling, everything is plugged in.

Yet I still hear an occasional click. I don't think its the OCP but its definitely a click of some kind of swich. Should I be worried?

Maybe it's a/the fan brushing against something?

I don't think so, There are only three fans in the case: the graphics card's, which is near nothing, the PSU's which is near no wires and the CPU's. The CPU is a bit more likely but I checked and it can only touch its own wiring (well, its coolant's wire anyway), what I carefully nudged away from it.

Have you checked your hard drives...